Dear HCN:
I read Elizabeth
Manning’s “Motorheads’ story (HCN, 12/9/96) with fatalistic mirth:
I figure if people won’t let me enjoy the outdoors quietly, I might
as well make some noise. It seems we live in a society driven by
those who take up the most space and make the biggest mess. All the
while they complain that people are trying to restrict their
freedom. How about looking at this from a common courtesy point of
view?
If I hiked near you in the woods, you
probably wouldn’t know I was there. Can you, mounted on your dirt
bike, ATV, or jeep, say the same thing? Isn’t your freedom to make
noise a restriction on my freedom to enjoy silence? Wouldn’t I have
to do something I don’t want to do, namely make noise, to affect
you as well? Either way, my freedom is snuffed
out.
Steve Harrington
Santa Fe,
New Mexico
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Noise always wins.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
